Stray Hope
by RockBane
Summary: The two corner stones of the Digital world is Hope and Light. To quote Azulongmon from Kyoto Dragon, "The Light inside is Hope. When all around you is Darkness, you must keep the Light on inside your heart." It's up to Kari to shed Light into TK's life.
1. Stray

**Stray Hope**

I don't own Digimon

--o

'_Thoughts'_

"Speaking"

-)o(- Scene change

--o

He rubs the back of his neck as if doing so would help with the headache he's currently experiencing, though he's careful not to rub it too much since he's currently getting a tattoo done on his back. One that he's designed himself. Though he can't seem to recall where he's seen some of the symbols before, he knew that he's seen them before though.

"Geeze, Thor, calm down already. You'd think you'd be use to having Blue rile you up by now." Zen pipes in, mistaking his action for irritation. "I'll be a whole lot calmer when I beat the snot out of that shit head." He grows out, everyone seems to believe that lie, not that he care whether or not they do.

His right hand rests on top of his left hand and then rests his chin on top of that. His headache slowly builds as the buzzing of the tool continues to hum at a steady pace. He tries to keep his body from stiffening; he makes the occasional grunt or snort whenever it sounds like a question is sent his way.

His vision clouds and he can see those damnable eyes. He grinds his teeth, trying to banish not just the vision but also the feelings it invokes. He doesn't like the feeling of helplessness, let alone the aching feeling of loneliness, as if a part of him had been torn out…

The vision fades as the buzzing of the ink pen vanishes. He blinks his eyes for a few seconds as he tries to focus on seeing what's in front of him. "Just think, by the end of the month, your tattoo will be completed." He hears Kana, another member of 'his' crew, remarks as he sits upright.

"You're taking a break, Washi?" He states as he turns to look at the tattoo artist. "What? Does your royal highness want to hurry this piece of art along?" Washy counters in a teasing tone as the neon green Mohawk tattoo artist puts away the ink pen.

"I thought you had all this month free is all; correct me if I'm wrong." He says, watching as Washi gets Zen and Kana to help clear up the ink pots. "My mom's in the hospital. She's in for a broken leg from falling off a chair. So, I've gallantly volunteered to return home for this coming week to help out around the house until one of my more responsible siblings are able to take over." The green haired tattoo artist says.

"Which basically translates into a week long party at your mom's place until one of your relatives kicks you out." He says in an amused tone as he takes his tank top from Zen. "You know me too well, 'Thor.'" Washi says, flattering his eyes at him in a flirting manner.

"Kana, you better teach your boyfriend some manners or else I'll take a whip to him." He threatens in a flat tone and on hearing that, Washi shakes his head while Kana just chuckles nervously. "Sure, boss, I'll get right on that." Kana says, clearly not sure if he really means it or not.

He pulls the tank top over his head, he's careful not to jar his tender back in the process. "You know, TK? You really need to get laid, if only to get melt some of that icicle that's in your ass." Washi adds before being hurried into the back room by Kana.

"Well, excuse me if I don't think with my dick." He snaps just before the pair vanish from the door way. "Speaking of dicks…" Zen muses and he glances to where Zen is pointing and rolls his eyes as he gets a clear view of members of Blue's crew cornering a young woman.

With a smirk fixed on his face, he grabs his leather jacket before heading out the door to do his version of stress management.

-)o(-

'_Just greet, Kari, what else can go wrong today?'_ She curses silently to herself as she tries, unsuccessfully, to get away from the three men that were harassing her. Before she knew it, she found herself cornered in an alley.

"You'd think that you dick heads would be smart enough to, I don't know; see if someone was in the tattoo parlour before doing something like this." She glances beyond the threesome to find at the entrance of the alley a blond and burnet standing there.

"We weren't doing nothing wrong, just grabbing a piece of stray ass." The bald one says and she can hear the quiver of fear in his tone. The look in the blond's blue eyes seem to dance in delight as the blond slowly approaches them. The neon coloured punk gulps slightly to her right, though she didn't take her eyes off of the familiar looking blond, though she can't seem to put her finger on where she's seen him before.

"It doesn't look like this 'ass,'" The blond empathise the word 'ass,' "likes being treated like this." The blond stops about two feet from the thugs. She can feel the confidence that seems to leak off of the blond, it wasn't dissimilar to what her brother, Tai, sends out, only she really didn't like the look of anticipation that's housed in the blond's eyes.

"Come on, TK. We haven't even touched her!" The guy to her left stutters out as the guy takes a few steps back. "Does it look like I care? Just because you didn't get the chance doesn't mean much, now does it? After all, thought becomes action, and action becomes the deed." The blond now known as TK remarks smoothly, the blond's eyes flicker to her before returning to graze at the bald guy that had been the leader of the three.

After a few seconds of tension, the guy on her right breaks the silence by yelling out a battle cry as he charges forward to land a blow on TK. The blow misses TK's head; all TK seemed to do was tilt his head to the side. Then one moment, TK was there and then he wasn't.

A pained grunt comes from her left and she turns to find TK standing slightly to her left, the thug was clutching the side of his face. With a strangled cry, the bald man and the first attack charges towards TK, though as she watches, all TK does was evade their attacks, as if they weren't even there.

'_He's toying with them!'_ She muses to herself as it dawns on her that TK doesn't seem to be in a hurry to finish this. The look of enjoyment that's shining from the blond's blue eyes made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

She feels slightly sick on figuring that out, since it stirs old memories and feelings. "STOP toying with them!" It takes her a moment to realise that she spoke her thought out since TK's graze turns to look at her, a look of surprise were evident in his eyes.

She feels her face redden and within moments of looking away from TK's, it sounds like TK did indeed do as she had asked. She glances up from the ground to watch TK frowning slightly, his right hand seems to twitch slightly. TK snaps out of it and glances to her, his eyes were icy.

"So, is there anything else I can do, your 'holiness'?" TK asks her, sarcasms oozing out of his tone. She blushes slightly, though she wonders why TK say 'holiness' instead of 'highness'…

"I don't know, are you capable of doing anything?" She snaps, for some odd reason, she's irritated by how TK handled this. TK snorts and seems to study her for a moment or two before shaking his head. "Whatever, angel-face, whatever." TK replies once the blond turns his back on her.

Her graze shifts from the blond to the burnet and then finally to the fallen guys on the ground. She tried to feel pity for them, but somehow, just couldn't, so she made sure not to step on anybody as she heads to the entrance of the alley. Her feelings were mixed as she watches TK head across the street, to the tattoo parlour across the way.

"Could you, I don't know, maybe walk me to a friend's place?" She finally asked in a voice that carried across the street. TK pauses before turning around to look at her once more.

"Oh?" TK asks in a flat tone with his left eyebrow raised up. TK's friend seems to find this slightly amusing from what she can tell from the sly grin on his face. "Well, isn't this how this encounter is supposed to end? The hero walking the heroine away from the place that he rescued her." She states in an amused sort of way, though she can't help but wonder why she's trying to get TK to walk her to her brother's dorm.

'_Well, he's not hard on the eye, that's for sure.'_ She admits to herself. "Thor would love to walk you to your destination. I'm Zen by the way." Zen says as he pats TK's shoulder.

TK gives Zen an icy look but the burnet doesn't seem too phased by it. "Thor?" She asks in surprise and Zen replies in a slightly nervous tone, "Well, you can always hear the results of TK's handy work, get it?"

While she doesn't get it, she nods anyway. "So, what's your name, angel-face?" Zen asks as he pulls his hand off of TK's shoulder with a slightly shaken smile on his face. She mentally rolls her eyes at Zen's antics, although from the look in TK's eyes, Zen probably has a valid reason to be fearful of the blond.

"Fine, where is it that I'm supposed to take you?" TK cuts in before she can introduce herself. She wanted to him a dirty look for interrupting her, but then, she gets this feeling that it would be pushing it a little too far…

-)o(-

"Whoever they are they've added more to that program, Gennai." He tells the robed man. "Thank you, Izzy." Gennai says and he can tell that Gennai's trouble about this whole thing.

Not that he could blame the Digital man, he, too, doesn't like the look of this, especially since they can't seem to find a trace of a connection linking this program to any outside source. "Gennai! Gennai! We've got a problem!" An orange Digimon bolts into the room that's on his computer screen.

"What's wrong Patamon?" Gennai asks the small looking Digimon. He frowns slightly and wonders what Patamon is whispering to Gennai. Gennai looks alarmed and he asks, "What's wrong?"

Gennai doesn't reply as the robed man gets to his feet and heads out of the room, following the worried orange Digimon called Patamon. _'Must be something really important if he forgot that I was here…'_ He thinks as his frown turns thoughtful as he begins to think up possible reasons for Gennai's haste out of the room.

-)o(-

**Earlier**

He had just been staring at one of the two corner stones of the Digital world. One represented Light while the other represented Hope, something that has yet to shine since that incident with that Digimon about six years ago…

His ears drooped as he recalls the events that happened. _'TK…'_ He muses for like the millionth time since the corner stones were created to monitor Hope's infection with the Dark Spore.

Something happens that snaps him out of his depressing thoughts. _'I'm pretty sure that's not suppose to happen…'_ The orange coloured Digimon thinks as the light coloured parts of Hope's corner stone begins to glow and the dark purple begin to leak out an icky looking mist.

He waits for a few minutes but when the blackish purple mist and the teal coloured light begin to battle, he bolts out of the underground chamber, heading to find the one person who could possibility make sense of what's happening to Hope's stone, and maybe with TK as well…

**Present**

Though it had taken him about ten minutes to get Gennai and return to the underground chamber, the phenomenon had only grown more violent while he had been away getting the robed Digital man.

"This isn't good, is it?" He asks before landing on Gennai's shoulder. His eyes wide as he watches the storm of light and shadow play out.

"Something's upset the balance between TK's crest and the Dark Spore imbedded in his neck." The robed man tells him. He felt so helpless… anger flares up within him as he feels the frustration of his situation once more keeps him from his human partner.

In the end, like always, he can only sit around and watch as the interplay between the purplish mist that represents the Dark Spore battles with the light that represents TK's crest, Hope. _'I'm just so tired of this, all of it. If I don't do something to help TK, then what the right do I have calling myself his partner? He needs me…'_ He tells himself as he lies on Gennai's should, watching the struggle before him play out, reflecting the struggle that TK is going through right now…

-)o(-

'_Why the hell did I have to come inside the dorm with her?'_ The blond wonders as he walks down the hallway with her. His head was killing him and he personally doesn't want have anything more to do with this girl with reddish hazel eyes.

He really doesn't care what her name was, in his view; this will likely be their only encounter if he has any say in the matter. He rubs the back of his neck, the spot at the base of his neck burns and no matter how often he rubs the spot, it doesn't seem to help. He pulls his hand away from the spot and shoves it into his jacket pocket.

He keeps his face carefully blank as he stops before one of the doors. He turns and watches the girl he saved from Blue's thugs pause before a door on the other side of the narrow hallway. He frowns slightly as he reads the number on the door.

If he's right then one of the occupies is…

The girl knocks on the door and after a few seconds a blond opens up the door. "Matt! Is my brother in?" The girl asks his elder brother. He turns away and begins to walk away, hoping that the elder blond doesn't spot him as he hurries out of sight.

"TK! TK!" He hears the girl call out, he stops and turns, the reddish hazel eyed girl catches up to him. Matt's a few steps behind her, Matt and his eyes briefly meet. He looks away from his brother, deciding that a certain part of the wall was more interesting.

"Have you two… met?" The girl asks slowly. "He's my little brother." Matt admits and he shrugs, glancing quickly at Matt's face, he turns his gaze to the girl.

-)o(-

She glances between the two blonds before asking, "Have you two… met?" She watches as TK glances up at Matt for a second or two before gazing at her after Matt replies, "He's my little brother.

She doesn't know what to say to that as she glances back and forth between the two. "So, how have you been, TK?" Matt asks in an uncertain tone, as if expecting to get slapped or something.

"I'm fine." TK says in a flat tone, TK's blue eyes flickering between them. "It's been about three years since…" Matt says, trailing off at the end.

"Yea well, our 'mother' was pretty clear as to the part that if I didn't 'shape up and fly right' that I'm not welcome under her roof. As I recall, you and dad were of the same mind." TK states in a bitter tone.

She could feel the tension in the air and she can't help but glance at Matt. From the sad look on the elder blond's face pretty much told her that he regretted that. The tension breaks as Tai calls out, "What are you two doing over there? Come on! Izzy wants to talk to all of us."

As Matt and her look down to where her brother's head is coming out of the dorm, by the time she looks to where TK had been standing, she finds that he's gone. She glances into Matt's face and feels bad for bringing up this bit about TK…

-)o(-

Currently, it's about two am in the morning and he had been unable to sleep. So he climbed up the fire escape to get to the roof, a place that he usually goes when he's unable to sleep, either by Zen entertaining his latest girlfriend to DJ having his music up a little to loud.

His living arrangement for about the last three years has been sharing an apartment with Zen and an underage barkeeper named Hachi or to use his nick name, DJ for his collection of CDs and Tapes. Not that he could afford another place with what Zen and him do for a living. And he knew it could be worst considering the kind of neighbourhood he finds himself living in.

He's a highly intelligent teen; he had even been called a Genius back when he attended school. Back when he was living with his mother. He might not have been able to, say, balance the country's budget, but he was ranked up there.

If he were to be truthful with himself, he's not sure when he got to be that smart, it kind of cropped up between age ten to eleven. It was also around that time did he begin to have those headaches and that itch on his neck. Things had changed from then on, he knew that had even though he can't always put his finger on it, but something in him had begun to change him. He got a heck of a lot better at sports, he could see a lines going from point A to B, C, and D, and, of course, this need to fight, a desire to beat those that oppose him into bloody pulps...

'_And enjoy doing it.'_ He muses to himself in a matter of fact way. Now that his headache has calmed down, though it's not totally gone, he's able to think a lot more clearly then he did this afternoon.

So now, he's trying to pin point the point to what caused his headache to go into overdrive and so far, all he's been able to come up with was that spending time with that girl likely boosted the fading headache. How being with her could cause said result, he's not sure at the moment, and he's not looking to find out either.

'_So then, that end that. I mean, what are the odds that I'll ever met her again? After all, Washi isn't going to be around for a week, so there isn't any reason why I'd visit that part of the city. For now, I'll just focus on those commissions and if I need human contact I'll just head out with DJ and hang out that the Drunken Dog. There's always someone that shows up that starts a drunken brawl…'_ He muses, a slightly feral grin appears on his face as he recalls the last drunken brawl he broke up for the owner, Genma had paid him for that since the bouncer at the time had been found knock out by a flying beer bottle.

With that mentally resolved, he allows the exhaustion that's lurking within to take over. After all, life for him will continue as it has been for the last three years, nothing has come up that has disrupted what bit of control he has over his life and he don't doubt his ability deal with those that try to crop up to disrupt it either.

-)o(-

When soft snores reach his ears, he relaxes and moves out of his hiding place from under Izzy's bed. It's been about a day since the incident that happen down in the chambers occurred. He does feel slightly guilty about sneaking off without informing anyone of his plans, but his resolve to find his partner eclipses his feelings of guilt.

He leaps into the air and within a few seconds, he's hovering in Izzy's room. He glances around, getting a better look and then spots a likely way to get out of the Digidestine's room. He flies towards the slightly open window and after a lot of effort, he manages to widen the window opening enough to wiggle out of the room.

He hovers before the window for a few seconds as he takes a good, long look at the city that lies outside of Izzy's room. He swallows slightly as despair tries to overwhelm him but he gives himself a few mental shakes before flying off in a random direction, confident that at journey's end that he'll be reunited with his human counter part, the one who left a gapping whole within his heart…


	2. Connecting

**Stray Hope**

I don't own Digimon

--o

'_Thoughts'_

"Speaking"

-)o(- Scene change

o-0-o Flash Back

--o

She presses her lips as she glances around the tattoo parlour. Yolei's currently chatting with one of the two artists that are on about tattoo designs, which allows her to have a look around in hopes of spotting some evidence that TK had been here. Though she studies the pictures hanging on the billboard, a place where she hoped to find a photo of TK since she's pretty sure that TK was hanging out within the tattoo parlour when he showed up to save her.

"Looking for someone?" The unoccupied artist asks her. "TK, also known as Thor… About three days ago, he kind of…" She trails off and the artist nods thoughtfully.

"Beat up some guys that were harassing you?" The slick black haired artist with a bunch of piercings asks and she nods. "Well, I can tell you right now that he's not going to be showing up around here anytime soon. He only hangs out here when Washi is on. After all, Kana and Washi have been going out for about a year now and Kana is part of TK's crew." The guy informs her and she blinks slightly, not sure what to make of the fact that TK seems to be head of a gang.

"Is Washi around for me to talk to?" She asks the artist and the man shakes his head as he replies, "Washi's mom is in the hospital, so he headed over there to house sit. Although I wouldn't be overly surprised if he shows up out of the blue in about two to three more days. Likely having been kicked out by one of his siblings or cousins for hosting a party daily at the place."

She's pretty sure there's more to that then what he's telling her, but she came here for a reason. "Is TK with Washi?" She asks and the guy shakes his head.

"Zen and him are still in town, I saw him at the Drunken Dog last night. His roommate, DJ, works as a barkeep over their. Though I wouldn't suggest that a pair of young lady's such as yourselves to check it out without an escort or three." The man tells her and she nods.

In the end, they each got a temporary tattoo before leaving the parlour. Yolei got a realistic heart design with a ribbon wrapped around it on her left shoulder. She choice a white feline with yellow spots that looks like it's climbing on her right leg, in the inside part though.

"So, learn anything new about Matt's younger brother?" Her DNA partner asks and she sighs. "Not much, but he does hang out at that place when a friend of his named Washi is around. It seems that the guy is dating one of TK's crew." She replies and out of the corner of her eye she watches Yolei's reaction to that.

"So? We just come back later." Yolei states and she frowns slightly as she corrects her purple haired friend, "Washi isn't going to be around for about another couple of days. I was told that he's can be found at the Drunken Dog, though he kind of recommended that we don't go in alone."

"The Drunken Dog? Who ever came up with this club's name must be thick in the head, no?" Yolei muses and she can't help but grin slightly, nodding in agreement since the name wasn't very original.

"So, I was thinking that I'd let Matt know, since I highly doubt that Tai and Davis would like it if I head into a club from the minor warning I got. I think even Ken would be a little bit concerned about it too, and he knows how much I like being handled with gloves." She muses; after all, Ken and her had been part of the first group of Digidestine, so of course they became close, though more in a brother-sister fashion then boyfriend-girlfriend.

Though something kind of began to nag at the back of her mind, but before it formed, it faded as her cell phone rang. "Hey Izzy." She greets once she sees who's calling.

"Hey Kari, are you and Yolei close to a computer?" Izzy asks, she blinks at the tone of Izzy's voice. "Is something wrong?" She asks, Yolei leans in to hear Izzy's reply once she exchanges alarmed look with her fellow Digidestine.

"It would seem that Gennai and myself aren't the only ones monitoring that incomplete program. It would seem that a US branch of military had noted the occurrence as well and has seized it as a way to get to the Digital world." Izzy explains, a slight chill goes down the back of her spleen on hearing that.

It really didn't help that there were plenty of Anti-Digimon groups out there, especially in branches of different country's governments. Groups that wanted the Digital world cleared of Digimon so that mankind could colonize the world since the one that they're currently in charge of is pretty much more or less filled with human trash. Some middle eastern countries were including religion in their reasons, with some religious leaders calling Digimon spawn of Satan and that it was their 'duty' to cleanse all worlds of their 'taint.'

Though what really relieved more of the Digidestine was that these groups didn't have a large following in the mainstream since it's been about four years since they defeated MaloMyotismon and when they banished his darkness. Even so, even the international Digidestine were worried that one day, these kinds of groups will actually _try_ something, like kidnapping them and trying to force them to open gateways into the Digital world.

Though now it seems that a group had discovered a way into the Digital world, if what Izzy is trying to say and it chilled her to the bone as images of soldiers gunning down innocent fresh, in-training, and rookies. It didn't help that she can image the kind of carnage that a pair of champions or even a lone ultimate could do to said troops in retaliation of said previous attack.

'_There's a reason why the Digital world chose children and not adults.'_ She muses grimly as she snaps out of her active imagination. "Have they breeched the gateway yet?" She asks, worry lacing her voice.

"Not just yet, but they've managed to send in a single scout, though that's more from some kind of data quake then through their slowly refining digital 'ramming' of the 'door.'" Izzy says with a slight sigh. "And I've tried the others, Ken and Davis don't have their cell phones on, Tai is currently studying at the library with Joe helping him, Sora's currently the only one at her mother's shop, Cody's at that kendo tournament, Matt's at band practice, and I'm busy monitoring their progress." Izzy adds and she sighs in defeat since, in the end, they're note that busy.

"Don't worry Izzy! We're on our way; just send the coordinates to our D-Terminals and leave it up to us." Yolei says when she took the phone from her and then hands it back. She smiles slightly; Yolei's confidence that they can handle this lifted her spirits.

Soon enough they've spotted a slightly crummy electronic shop and with their D-3s, they were on their way to the place where the US scout was last seen. She can only hope that nothing too bad happens while they wait for back up since it's likely that one of Gennai's clones will be alerted and will send some of the other Digidestine as back up.

-)o(-

He watches from his position within the air ducts as the two Digidestine girls use one of the computers as a Digi Port and vanish. He sighs slightly but hears TK stir. He climbs to his feet and head into backroom to see what the blond was up to now.

TK was currently doing some stretches as he sat in front of the computer while his friend, Zen, walks over with what looks like beer… TK finishes his stretches and picks up the open can.

"Rockstar energy drink?" TK muses and Zen shrugs. "It's all I could find, unless you wanted to drink chilled sake." Zen remarks and TK snorts before opening the drink and then brings the can to his mouth.

A few seconds later, TK rests the can on a small folding table and returns to typing away at the computer, his fingers seemly a blur of activity as bits of computer code slowly transform into a computer program. Zen and him watch the blond for a few more minutes and then Zen settles down at one of the other two available computers. As he watches, Zen inserts that odd stick into the back of the computer and then sits down before the computer, waiting for something to happen, what he's not sure but he guesses it as something to do with what TK's working on.

As the orange rookie loses interest in what's happening down below, his mind wonders down the corridors of his mind, heading back to when that evil Digimon called Millenniummon was alive and two Digidestine were called to defeat him…

o-0-o

He blinks as he stares at the scene before him. About a second ago, he swore he was at Ken's place and then his little friend headed off to go use the bathroom and then… Well, then something came out of the computer.

'_Get a grip on yourself, Ryo. This is just some kind of dream. I mean, you just don't get sucked into a computer screen and there aren't any such things as blue dragon like beasts called Veemon or creatures called Digimon. After all, what Ken and I watched was just some kind of computer generated show.'_ He tells himself as he stares a head of him, ignoring the blue creature that doesn't exist.

"Mom's going to be so mad…" He hears someone say and he turns around only to find not only a little kid about Ken's age but a white creature next to the kid. "Don't worry, TK, I'm here to protect you!" The strange white thing says and that draws the attention of the young blond who just might be called TK.

"Ok, but… ah… what are you?" The blond asks and the white thing exchanges looks with the so-call being called Veemon. "Well, I'm a Digimon, a Tokomon actually and the best part is, I'm your partner Digimon, TK!" The self-proclaimed Tokomon says as if it was the greatest thing in the world.

"Really? Is it like having a guardian Angel?" The young blond asks as the either ten year old or eleven year old blond bends down to take a closer look at the little Digimon called Tokomon. "What's a guardian Angel?" Tokomon asks and he can't help but smile slightly at the scene occurring before him.

"It just means that you'll protect him when he really needs it, Tokomon." He answers, deciding that even though this might be a dream, he might as well make the most of it. The young blond cocks his head back and looks at him as he raises up from his crouch.

"My apologies, I'm Takeru Takashi, though everyone calls me TK." TK says, introducing himself with a slight bow. "Nice to met you, TK. I'm Ryo Akamiya." He replies and returns his bow.

"And I'm Veemon." The blue Digimon says giving the pair a thumbs up with his right hand. TK smiles and bows slightly to the blue dragon like Digimon as the blond says, "Good to meet you, Veemon. And you too Ryo."

He turns to look at the blue Digimon who appeared in the computer screen when Ken had to go use the washroom. "So, why are we here?" He asks and Veemon answers, "Well, you remember what happened about two years ago, the battle between Omnimon and Diaboromon that occurred on the internet?"

"I didn't get a chance to see it, I was at my grandma's house and since she doesn't have a computer, I remember that Matt hitched a ride somewhere to look for a computer. I don't know why though." TK recounts with a slight frown on his face as says the last bit and he nods slowly, he was at Ken's that day. He, too, recalls how his young friend had acted slightly… off while they watched the battle.

"I watched it with Ken." He answers and Veemon just nods. "Well, it seems as though one of the cloned Diaboromon managed to open up some kind of time warp and was saved from being deleted by Omnimon. And now, here in the Digital world, he's at large and you were called to finish the job." Veemon says and he frowns slightly, as he thinks about this.

"Why can't Omnimon do it?" TK asks and Veemon sighs before replying to TK's inquiry, "Well, WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon had lone since returned to their rookie forms and they've given up their ability to Digivolve to said forms to help the Digital world recover about a month ago."

"…" Both TK and himself stare at the blue dragon like Digimon, neither of them really know what to say to that. "Ok then, where do we start?" Ryo asks, gathering his confidence and giving the group a confident grin. Veemon sighs in relief and TK's eyes light up as the young pre-teen straightens up while Tokomon looks first at him, then at TK, and finally at Veemon before sighing slightly.

o-0-o

His growling stomach snaps him out of his musings and he gets a sheepish look on his face. He glances down through the vent slits to make sure that TK and Zen were totally occupied before heading to the roof so he can head off in search for something to eat. Since he knows that there really isn't anything filling in the fridge of the shop.

'_Ok, so I'm going to do it tonight, I'm not going to chicken out like all the other times. I will reveal myself to TK and that's that.'_ He thinks to himself once he's in the air and begins to head to this bakery that he discovered a day ago. The owners were kind people and didn't mind letting him eat their day to two day old pastries and other such goods.

-)o(-

"So, is it completed yet?" Asks the owner of the electronic shop and with a blink, he looks away from the encrypted coding program to give the forty-something man a blank look. He then turns to glance at Zen, his follower/roommate nods slightly.

"Then yea, it's done." He answers and the man sighs and a look of relief flickers in the man's eyes before the man grins slightly. Mr Mako nods slightly before heading off to phone whoever commissioned the program that it was ready.

Within a few key strokes the program is in the process of being saved onto the CD that's resting within the disc holder. He brings up the memory stick and presses the ejection icon. Once it's safe to take the memory stick out of the computer, he does so. He flips the protective bit over the UPC insert.

Soon enough Zen and him were ready to depart since it had been a busy eight hours of program work. The program will be looked over by the company that's commissioned at least three other programs besides himself to create a massive role-playing game frame that could be used to help others create their own server based RPG. Then if their frame program gets the green light then they can expect to see a bonus by the time they get the cheque, be it a fifty percent bonus or something to act as a bonus like a gift certificate or a free laptop.

As soon as the CDs were finished, they put them in the cases, one marked for the department head and the other to go to their testing branch. The one going to the department head was the one that Zen had been working on and it had a demo of a game on it as well as a progress log that detailed what kind of glitches they ran into and which they managed to fix. The one that he had been working was the one that will be going to the testing department, he hoped that he managed to fixed most of the bugs but knew that it wouldn't be until after someone begins to use the program to create a game would the bugs be easier to weed out and correct since it would be filled with a great deal more information then what the frame is suppose to have.

They leave the CDs on the counter by the fridge before heading out of the back door. "Might as well get some take out before we head back to the apartment, didn't DJ say that there's a special on soup tonight?" Zen muses and he grunts an agreement as he puts on his jacket before heading out of the store.

With his hands in his jacket pocket, he walks into the back alley, holding the door open for Zen, though he makes sure that the door is being held more by his rear then by this sore back. It really didn't help that not only was his back still a bit sore from his incomplete tattoo on his back but also from crouching forward as he worked on that frame program. Zen nods his thanks and he follows at Zen about two feet behind the guy.

He wasn't really thinking about anything in particular, just musing as random thoughts popped into the forefront of his mind. One of the thoughts that kept returning was the image of those eyes that keep appearing whenever he's under the needle of a tattooing pen. He could feel his skin try and crawl whenever his thoughts rest on the image for more then a moment or two.

As they move through the maze of back alleys, out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed the usual people giving him the evil eye or beginning to whisper anew at their passing. He wonders if old Black 'nd Blue will show up since old Blue's a bit over do at making an appearance since he knocked those three dickheads around. A slight smirk flashes on his face as he notices who's hanging about the entrance way leading into the Drunken Dog.

Zen slows up and within seconds his solo crew member so walks at his heels. It wasn't long before Blue gets ribbed by one of his crew and the man's eyes blaze with anger and resentment at just looking at him. Within him a glow of savage satisfaction stokes up within his chest, he knows perfectly well what's going to happen and he's eager for the confrontation that's about to occur between him and the older gang banger.

Keeping a bore look on his face as he looks away from Blue, he feels Zen tense up as they get closer to the entrance door. As Blue takes a few steps towards them, he had to fight down the urge to roll his eyes at old Black and Blue's predicable behaviour, though it doesn't do anything to spoil his enjoyment of Blue picking a fight with him though. Zen slows his pace and those people that were considered regulars move in to watch, to see just how badly out classed Blue was.

"Well, well, well, if it ain't blondie and his side kick slash boyfriend Fin." Blue says in a drawl as the man swaggers in a circle around him in what the older man thinks is a threatening manner. "What's wrong? You got a sore tongue from Frenchin' your _boyfriend_?" Black and Blue asks with a sneer.

"Well, we all know where you're tongue has been, don't we, guys? I hope you didn't throw your back out when you decided to use it to give yourself a service since we know that you can't pay for a girl, now don't we?" He replies in a dry tone and a few of the crowd chuckle at that while Blue's eyes narrow slightly and his nostrils flare in anger.

An ugly look grows on Blue's face as people begin to make bets on how much damage Blue will end up with, how long the fight will be, whether he's in a good mood tonight or not, and finally, how long old Black and Blue will be in the hospital for. Try as he might, Blue's attempt at imitation goes relatively unnoticed by the crowd at large. Blue's hands ball into fists and if looks could kill, Black and Blue would be a massive murderer with the looks he's giving out.

It would seem that even his own crew members were betting in favour of him winning the fight, something that'll likely spell Blue's downfall from crew leader to booted out of the top dog position. He studies the new comers that were slowly walking out of the alleyways and coming off the street to watch what might just be the last fight between crew leader Thor and crew leader old Black and Blue, or as he was nicknamed before he showed up, Spiked Fist for the fingerless gloves that had tiny metal spikes on the knuckles.

His eyes linger on Luna, one of three choices to succeed as the Divine gang's crew leader. Though a woman, Luna had managed to do what few other women that join gangs do, keep from being considered a bed warmer. Luna's won her fair share of fights and it's said that Luna has brand on her lower back shaped like an opening rose. All in all, he'll admit that she has guts, wit, and most importantly, the ability to pick her battles or rather, when to return a 'debt' at the right time, likely when they're down on their luck and she's fairly certain that they won't be able to retaliate right away.

Blue growls and he returns his attention to the man who's about to find himself falling from grace, a very painful fall if he has a say in it. "You just can't wait to visit the hospital again, huh? It must be the cute boy nurses, huh?" He muses with a slight smirk, knowing perfectly well what Blue's reaction will be since, really, there's only about three reaction to that, first off, to counter it verbally, two, to counter it with his fists, and then there's three, which was to back off, which is unacceptable for Blue since he's the one that started this whole thing.

He studies Blue as the man remains subdued. "You know what, you blond fag? Ever since you just appeared, you've been a thorn in my side. Me and my gang ruled this part of the world and then you just showed up and everything has gone to hell." Black and Blue says in an oddly controlled voice. He snorts as he rolls his eyes and shakes his head, he's got a pretty good idea at what kind of 'trump' card Blue thinks he's got.

'_Really, can he get more predicable? Let's see, he's right handed so it'll be in his right pocket. Typical, now he's going to rant and rave about how he was at the top of the world and how a snot nose kid like me should have just bend over and begin kissing his butt, hell, he think I should have been 'grateful' that he'd let me.'_ He muses in his disgust.

"Just pull out the damn gun from your right side and stop yapping you, bitch wanna be. I mean, you're such a Drama Queen." He says as the crowd quiets down at the mention of a gun. From the look on Blue's face, it seems that Blue thought he was being original.

"You see, I don't give a fuck what you think or about your sob story. Hell, I don't think anyone here does, I mean, sure, you were top dog for a while, and before you, there was somebody else, and so on and so forth." He says as he begins to circle Black and Blue, the crowd backed up slightly, more then likely getting ready to flee when Blue pulls the gun.

"I mean, you'd think this was some kind of movie or soap opera the way you're acting. Geeze, can you get any more full of yourself? Why don't you bow out gracefully, at this point, that's pretty much all you can do since you can't seem to put your fists where your mouth is or do you still think that the hundred of other fights that we've had were just flukes? News flash, old Black and Blue, you're never going to get your position back. People are tired of you and your ego, so I'll be kind and give you're the opinion of putting the damn gun on the ground and make it quick or you can try and keep the gun and I'll put you into a full body cast and do the world a favour by making sure you can't taint the gene pool." He says and with a bellow, Blue pulls the gun out of his pocket.

_Snap_

He breaks Blue's wrist with ease and Blue's forced to drop the gun. "Too bad, so sad." He says and when he's finished with old Black and Blue, Blue's old crew take over, spiting on the guy, punching, and kicking as they shout insults at the washed out gang banger. Neither he or Zen stick around to see what becomes of old Black and Blue as his mind goes to filling his empty stomach then the pitiful scene between Blue and him.


	3. Sighted

**Stray Hope**

I don't own Digimon

--o

'_Thoughts'_

"Speaking"

-)o(- Scene change

o-0-o Flash Back

--o

He creeps into the apartment through an open window, he still not exactly thrilled by how his partner handled that guy with the gun, he couldn't help but be relieved that the gun hadn't been fired.

'_Still, he could have ended it in a different manner.'_ He thinks to himself as he launches himself into the air and heads for the door that will take him out of this guy's apartment. He's careful as he opens up the door, he pauses to look at the teen before opening it so that he can fly through.

Before trying for another door, he closes this one. A soft click seems to echo throughout the apartment and he lands on the ground as he hears the occupant grunt. After a few seconds, he once more takes to the air and flies to one of the two doors.

He manages to guess right the first time and with that, he remembers to close the door before flying to the bed. For a few minutes, he hovers over TK's head, taking his time as he studies the features of his partner.

'_It's hard to believe that he could be filled with so much anger...'_ He muses to himself as he stares fondly down at the sleeping Digidestine of Hope. Then with a sigh, he lowers himself onto the bed, moving to rest on TK's right side.

It had been a long night for him as well and so, within seconds, he drifts off to slumber land within seconds of landing by his sleeping partner.

-)o(-

As he slowly woke up, he couldn't help but feel that a spot by his right side feels warmer then it should. He grunts and rolls onto left side as he reaches a hand out to touch whatever it is that's by his side.

He hears a soft sigh as his hand moves over the object. In the end, he couldn't be bothered to take a look at what's resting next to him and just decides to enjoy the feeling of not being fully awake or fully asleep for a bit longer.

After a few countless minutes pass, something growled and it wasn't his stomach.

"Hum, TK? Could we have breakfast now?" A voice asks him and he frowns, after all, he's fairly sure he hadn't been entertaining anyone and that he went to bed alone.

"…" He cracks an eye open and it takes a few seconds before he can make out an orange blur. A few blinks later and he's got a clearer view of said orange blur.

The orange stuff animal being turns and he finds himself staring into a pair of blue eyes. "TK?" The thing asks and sighs.

'_Great, what did I try out this time?'_ He wonders as he rolls onto his back as he tries to remember taking anything that resembles pills or asking for pills to be put in his cola.

"TK?" The orange figment of his imagination asks in a concerned tone while he tries really hard to think of reason why he's still hallucinating after having a good night sleep.

-)o(-

He sighs as Zen pokes him once more, its clear that TK didn't remember him or anything about the Digital world. It really hurt that his partner thought that he was a drug induced hallucination, whatever that was but he's sure it wasn't a good thing though…

"I still find it odd that something this cute is partnered with you, Thor." Zen repeats for the third time since he explained that he's TK's Digimon partner.

TK just sighs from his position by the stove as his partner easily flips a pancake in one smooth motion before putting the pan back on the element. "You're starting to sound like a broken record." His partner says in a calm tone.

"Oh, come on! Look at him! He's the definition of cuteness! He's small and cuddly looking, he's got those expressive blue eyes!" Zen says with a shake of his head.

"I'm bigger in my champion form." He says in his defence. "Oh? And what kind of form is that?" Zen asks with interest.

"…" Then with a sigh, he answers, "My champion form is Angemon." Zen grins in amusement.

"You transform into an Angel?" Zen asks and he nods in a reluctant way. Zen tries to suppress his laughter but within second, Zen's holding his belly as the teen says between laughs, "Oh my God! You become an Angel! And you're partnered with TK! Oh it hurts, it hurts!"

"Ouch! No need to get violent!" Zen says after TK slaps his friend upside of the head. "Then shut it, Zen. We don't need the whole apartment building to know that there is a Digimon in the building!" TK hisses, his blue eyes flashing in anger.

"True." Zen admits soberly and with that, Zen turns to read the newspaper in his hand. He's kind of glad that TK managed to get Zen to stop bugging him, he sighs in relief.

True, things weren't what he had hoped they be, it really didn't help that his partner seems to be filled to the brim with a lot of negative emotions, but at least TK seems to be trying to control them. After all, TK could have started lashing out physically at his friend for simply for beginning to sound like a broken record.

'_But then, that's likely how that spore is expressing itself. I would hate to think what would happen if TK had somehow been directed into the Digital world while still coming to grips with these emotions.'_ He thinks privately to himself as he shivers at the thought of the kinds of things his blond partner could have done.

After all, TK's a software designer and could have designed programs to affect the Digital world and the Digimon living there. They had enough trouble dealing with those two ultimate level Digimon, Mummymon and Arukenimon setting up those Control Spires as relays to power those Dark Rings that were then used to control Digimon under the champion level.

Of course their master had been one Oikawa Yukio, a man possessed by the spirit of Myotismon. He's just glad that the Digidestine managed to defeat the vampire without needing TK and his help.

The phone rings and while TK is busy pouring pancake batter on the pan, leaving Zen to answer the phone. "Hello, Zen speaking." Zen says.

He doesn't pay much attention to the following conversation, though it sums up that the rest of TK's crew is back in town and that they'll looking to catch up on the news. It seems that they heard rumours of Blue's fall and wanted to hear it from Zen's own mouth.

By the time Zen finishes talking for a good twenty minutes, TK finishes off the remaining bit of batter, thus signals that they're going to be eating soon. He felt some drool coming out of his mouth but he didn't care, he's so hungry and it feels like a lifetime ago since he's had a bite to eat.

Within seconds, TK's moving the plate filled with pancakes to the table while Zen takes a seat at the table. He launches himself into the air and waits for TK to pick a place before landing by the free plate. Zen takes two off the top of the stack, then TK takes three, and then the blond gives him a questioning look.

"Five please!" He pipes in cheerfully and TK sighs but takes five off the stack to put on his plate. He doesn't feel like bothering with the syrup just yet and so, he just begins devouring them as they were.

By the time he finishes eating them, he looks up to find both TK and Zen staring at him. "…" He lowers his head, he could feel his checks heat up in embarrassment.

"Boy I'm glad I wasn't either of those pancakes." Zen says in an uplifting kind of way. "Zen…" He hears TK says with a sigh.

He couldn't help but smile at the way they act. "I can see why people think you're a couple." He says slyly and TK just sighs while Zen groans.

"We are not a couple! We're just good friends, besides, Thor's already got something up his ass, I doubt there's any more room in there for anything else." Zen says in a teasing voice while TK gives Zen a very frosty look.

'_Well, at least things won't be boring.'_ He muses to himself as Zen cries out as TK punches Zen in the arm before the blond returns to eating breakfast while Zen rubs his sore spot.

-)o(-

"YOU WANT TO GO WHERE?!" Her brother shouts. She just sighs and glances pleadingly at Sora to help smooth her brother's ruffled feathers while Matt seems to be a bit more subdued.

It's been two days since they rushed to stop that attempt of entering into the Digital world. Things had calmed down slightly but it seems that she just opened up a different can of worms by her suggestion.

"I just thought that Matt would want to see his brother is all." She says as calmly as she could and Tai sends a startled look at his roommate and best friend. "Matt?"

"We didn't part in the best of terms and I wouldn't mind apologizing to TK. He is my little brother and it sounds like he's part of a rough crowd." The Digidestined of Friendship admits as he meets Tai's eyes before returning to staring back at the ground.

"Oh." Her brother seems to deflate on this admission. Then Tai draws himself up and puts on a stern look as he turns to address her. "Fine, if Matt wants to go, I'm sure Sora and myself will be enough to keep him company. I don't want you to come with us since it's in the seedier part of town." Her brother says with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Who's to say you can stop me." She declares as she crosses her own arms over her chest as she gives her brother a look of defiance. They glare at each other, its been a while since they got into a fight and while she doesn't like confronting Tai about things, she wasn't going to let any of them confront TK without her.

True, this really didn't have anything to do with her or ultimately with the group as a whole but there's just something about the blond that … Well, she really didn't know why its important for her to met with the rube blond but she's got this gut feeling that she had to see him again, even if it was only to get into an argument with him.

"Why not let her come, Tai. It's clear that she inherited your stubbornness." Sora muses, breaking the tension that's hanging about them.

"But it could be dangerous!" Her brother states angrily. "I get the feeling that I'll be dangerous either way, after all, if TK and his crew hang out there then it's likely that other crews hang out there. If the place is still standing right now, then there might be some kind of agreement to keep turf wards out of this bar." Sora says calmly.

"Those rules might not apply to us." Matt points out. "Of course they do, after all, are we all part of Tai's crew?" She says slyly and Tai looks startled while Sora giggles slightly while Matt smiles slightly while his eyes sparkle with laughter.

"I can't believe you're comparing us being Digidestine to being in a gang." Tai grumbles slightly while she just smiles in amusement. "If it helps, I could always bring Gatomon for protection. She's small and is great at hiding or I could pass her off as a knap sack or something." She says and Tai just sighs.

"I guess it couldn't hurt." Tai says.


	4. Brothers

**Stray Hope**

I don't own Digimon

--o

'_Thoughts'_

"Speaking"

-)o(- Scene change

o-0-o Flash Back

--o

"Hey Thor." Washi says tiredly from behind the counter when he walks into the tattoo parlour with Zen following behind him. He spots Kana and the rest of his crew where hanging about, some sporting fat lips, black eyes, and exhausted looks in their eyes. Zen whistles while he simply raises an eyebrow at their combined states.

"Oh boy, what happened to you guys? Or should I ask who happened to you guys?" Zen asks and Nami, the bald one of the group answers after glancing about at the others, "Just some small town hell risers that thought they were the shit."

He shrugs as he gives Washi a questioning glance. "Are you free for today or do I have to wait until later to get you to work on it some more?" He asks the neon green haired tattoo artist. "I can do you now." Washi says and gives Hana a quick kiss before following him into the back, to where the chairs were.

He takes off his shirt and lies it down on a chair before laying down on his belly to allow his back to stare up at the ceiling. "You know, we heard some interesting news on our way into town." The teen with a forehead tattoo, a guy nicked named Tabi says and he smirks as he knows just what bush they're beating around.

"Ah huh." He hears Zen muse, leaving the five plus Washi to glance at each other; he observes them out of the corner of his eye as he waits for Washi to finish getting ready to start working on his tattoo. "Well, is it true? Has old Black'n'Blue been dethroned?" Hana finally blurts out as he hears the interment begin to hum.

"You tell it better then I could, Zen." He says to his roommate and Zen nods. Within seconds, the other five of his crew move to take up positions around Zen, more then eager to hear what happened in their absence. He tries to focus on Zen's voice in hopes of pushing those damnable eyes out of his mind but slowly, as the sharp pain from the needle moves over his back and as those eyes grow in power, do so the feelings associated with them.

'_I wonder if Patamon knows where I've seen these eyes before…'_ He wonders and just thinking about the orange Digimon that he met this morning, he didn't feel as hollow as he usually does when Washi is working on his tattoo. He does try to focus on the conversation going on, especially as Nami takes a crack at story telling in his own fashion.

His back goes numb after some minutes. Slowly the conversation begins to die, though Haji does offer to go out and get them drinks from the drink machine. He doesn't have to tell them his preferences, so he doesn't say much from his position on the chair, waiting for Washi to finish this session.

'_Hopefully, two more sessions and it'll be complete.'_ He thinks to himself as he accepts a cold can from Haji. He opens it, leaving his chin to rest on the back of the chair back. As he puts the cool metal can to his lips, he greedily drinks the chilly liquid within it before putting it down on the near by counter top.

Unsurprisingly, he really wishes he can rub and scratch the back of his neck as much as he wants but refuses to do more then give it a short rub every few minutes. As the end of the session comes closer, so does the beginnings of his headache, which also puts a damper on his almost good mood.

"I still don't get how you managed designed this." Haji admits as Washi finishes the session. He turns to give the younger teen a blank look which causes the fourteen year old to look away. Getting up off the chair, he grabs his shirt and begins to pull it over his head, once more careful not to jar the skin on his back too much.

"So, did you ever get to third base with that chick you saved?" Hana asks as he grabs the open can of soda. He mentally rolls his eye before he frowns as he recalls his encounter with his elder brother. As he lowers the now empty can from his mouth, he says in a blank tone, "I don't want to talk about it."

The subject gets dropped as he heads to the counter, Zen and the others follow at his heels while Washi continues to clean up his station of pop cans. He shies away from thinking about that day by thinking about other things, like when they'll hear back from that company, who's likely to end up his newest punching bag, stuff that didn't relate to his heroic one bit.

-)o(-

"I wonder if TK and his two roommates will be angry that I ate all of what's in the fridge…" He wonders as he glances about him, feeling a twitch of guilt about eating pretty much everything in sight. "Although, there wasn't much in it to begin with either…" He admits with a sigh, pretty much hoping that when TK and his friend Zen come home they'll have groceries or at least some form of food.

From his spot on the counter top, he begins to hear the door knob begin to wiggle. He turns to face the door, his ears perked upwards as he hears somebody curse from the other side of the door. With a frown, he takes to the air, flying to the top of the cupboards to hide as he hears the door knob click; allowing whoever it was access into the apartment.

"So, this is where the great and powerful Thor lives, huh?" The guy with blue shades muses in a sceptical tone as he and this other guy with spiky purple hair enter in through the front door of the apartment. "Shhh." Spiky hair hisses but shades just snorts.

"It's not as if anybody's here!" Shades tells his buddy and he tenses, wondering if spiky knew he's here. "That doesn't mean there aren't neighbours about." Spiky replies and shades just snorts as the sun glass wearing guy remarks, "Like anyone is going to tattle on our gang."

He feels a bit relieved that neither knows that he's hear but he really didn't like the shade wearing human, he reminds him strongly of a lot of virus Digimon TK and him encountered during their one adventure in the Digital world. "Let's finish this and get the hell out of here before Thor and Zen arrive back." Spiky says as he swings the long looking bag from his back.

"I wonder which room is his…" Shade muses and as they head into the hall, he finally realizes why they are here. _'I'm not going to let them steal any of TK's stuff!'_ He thinks as he narrows his eyes and waits before taking flight, waiting for both of them to have their backs towards him.

A single Boom Bubble and they fall flat on their faces. "I'm not going to sit back and allow you two thugs to steal from my partner!" He says as the pair turn their heads to look at him.

"Ah shit, it's one of those Digital monsters!" Shades declares and within seconds, they're fleeing out of the apartment, totally forgetting their bags that were sent flying when he knocked them over with one attack. "I didn't know humans were that easily frightened." He admits as he stares out at the hallway.

With a shrug, he flies to the door and closes it. It clicks and he makes a note to remind TK to get the door fixed before landing on the coffee table to turn on the TV, after all, he's fairly sure after hearing the others talk about how to work one that he should be able to make it work for him. He presses the button surrounded by a red outline and the TV comes to life.

-)o(-

"Why are we going into this shop?" Zen asks after they promised to hook up with the others at the bar later tonight. "Well, unless you want to see people panic at the sight of Patamon, I think we need to get him something to eat before we leave so he doesn't have to come with." He states in his best matter of fact tone.

"Good point. People would freaky if they knew you've got a Digital monster hanging about." Zen muses and while he's curious as to why they would, he decides not to say anything. He does have an image to maintain before those that follow him.

Grabbing a basket, he walks down a row at random, not really paying much attention as he puts a few of the items on display into the basket. He doesn't hear Zen behind him so he figures that his roommate and the closes thing he has to a best friend is likely flirting with whoever's behind the till. He doesn't pay a lot of attention to just what he's picking up, but knows that before they leave, he might want to show the orange being how to work a can opener as he considers how many can goods he's got in his basket.

He did pause for a second as he notices a strange hawk like being mopping the floor. Other then stare at the creature for a few seconds, he gives himself a shake and heads to the counter to pay for his purchases, leaving the hawk being to do its job. The teenage girl with glasses and a bandana that Zen's trying to flirt with pause to study him for a few seconds, as if trying to decide if they've met somewhere before but shrugs as she shakes her head as she begins to ring through the stuff he wishes to buy.

As he finishes putting the bills on the counter, the girl says, "You know, you look pretty familiar." He shrugs as he replies, "We likely went the same school once upon a time."

"I did attend Odaiba Elementary until I was thirteen." He says, what's left unsaid is the fact that he rarely attended classes when he turned twelve until he dropped out at age thirteen and the girl nods. "Yea, I probably saw you then."

"Well, take care!" She calls out as he takes the bags from the counter. He nods while Zen says, "Ah well, our pairing is such sweet sorrow, my dear. Farewell, young maiden, I wish that I shall find a girl that's half as faithful as you." He hears the girl sigh, he's not sure out of either exasperation or sadness, but he's sure he's got better things to do then to figure out Zen's love life as he walks out of the door as somebody calls out, "Yolei! I'm done by the coolers."

"Coming!" He hears Yolei says as they walk through the automatic door. "Such beauty…" He hears Zen muses with a sigh; he couldn't help but roll his eyes at this, knowing full well that it won't be long before Zen forgets about the cashier girl with glasses.

"You know Thor? You really need get laid. I hear it's good for what ails you." Zen tells him, breaking the silence that has been hanging between them since they left the store. He feels his eyes roll in response to this, but knew that this old argument was going to rear its head sooner or later. _'I'm surprise it wasn't sooner considering my encounter with angel-face.'_

His mood sours as he recalls how that particular escort mission ended with a meeting with… He mentally growls as he gives himself a mental shake as he gives Zen a look promising pain if his room-mate continues on that particular vein. Zen swallows after growing pale for a few seconds before he turns away from the other teen.

It wasn't long before Zen began to chat his ear off by talking about random things, like sports to girls. He doesn't say much nor really pay the conversation much mind as they walk for an hour to make it back to their apartment. Zen grows silent as he rummages around for his keys so they can go through the back door of the apartment.

"So, what are our plans for tonight, Thor?" Zen asks as he turns the key and then pulls the door open so that Zen can enter. He groans mentally while Zen waits for him to say his bit.

"What we usually do at night, Zen, try and take over the city! One gang at a time." He says in an emotionally flat tone as he gives Zen a look that dares him to try and have him repeat it with more emotion.

"One of these days, I'm going to find a replacement for you. One who's not Mr. Ice and knows how to have fun outside of a fight." Zen grumbles as Zen walks pass him and into the building.

"You keep saying that, but you haven't yet." He remarks dryly as he gets his keys out of the lock before walking in himself. The back door closing behind him, a soft click reaches his ears and he knows its locked once more.

-)o(-

"What a lively and friendly crowd." She hears Tai muse sceptically at the hostile looks they're receiving as they walk towards one of the free tables. She couldn't help but notice how many looks Matt seems to be gathering as she sits down between Sora and her brother.

"I really don't like the looks they're sending me." Matt states softly from the other side of Sora. "Maybe they can't help but notice how much you look like TK?" Sora supplies and Matt just sighs in response.

It wasn't long before one of the waitresses comes over with a menu. The woman walks off before any of them picks up the menu. "What friendly service, huh?" Tai comments as he picks up the menu to go over it.

"That's one waitress who's not getting a tip." Matt agrees before silence takes hold. She glances around and she kind of freezes at the sight of some familiar faces, ones she had 'met' just before TK gave them a beating.

"What's wrong?" Her brother asks her and she then realizes she never mentioned how she met TK. "I never told you how I met him, did I?" She says softly as she looks away from her attackers.

"What did he do?" Matt asks in a tone with a sigh and she glances at Matt, kind of surprised by the tone that he's using. Pressing her lips together, she muses about it for a few seconds before deciding not to leave out anything out of her tale.

"Well, I was cutting through the seedier part of the city to get to the dorms when I found myself being followed by three guys. They somehow managed to corner me in the alleyway, but before they could do anything, TK shows up." She tells her table-mates.

She quickly presses on, "They exchange words with the three becoming more fearful by the second while TK continues to walk towards us. Not that I blame them, his eyes looked like they were made out of ice or were chipped pieces of sapphire. They were devoid of emotion."

She couldn't suppress a shiver as she recalls the beating TK gave the lot. "One of the guys finally attacked TK and it was like a dam broke, the other two surged at him too. It didn't take long before it was clear who the victor was. Then, while he was walking across the street, heading back to this tattoo parlour, I called after him asking him to escort me to your dorm."

Matt looks highly surprised, she wonders if it had to do with the fact that TK had come to her defence or if it's because she just didn't let him walk away. "His friend Zen said that TK would be 'happy' to escort me and well, you know what happened next." She finishes and it wasn't long before Matt's eyes became distant and unreadable.

"And you just saw the three who…" Tai says in a very controlled tone and she nods, unwilling to met his eyes. She feels Sora take her arm and give it a squeeze for comfort.

"Care to point them out?" Tai asks in his most casual tone and she shoots him a look. "What? I wouldn't mind teaching them a thing or two about how to treat a girl."

Before anyone could say anything, the waitress appears and once they place their drink order, a young man walks up to their table. The guy's focus seems to be solely on Matt. "You look a lot like Thor." The slightly older teen says thoughtfully and she perks.

"You know TK?" She asks and the teen gives her a glance before frowning slightly. "It's kind of hard not to know him, he did take down Blue not too long ago. I'm also one of his room-mates." The guy admits. "I take it you're Yamato?"

"I prefer Matt." The guy nods as he introduces himself, "I'm Hachi, though most call me DJ." A pause and DJ says, "I'm not sure if it's my place but, you really shouldn't be here or try to meet Thor here; not unless you're wanting to find yourself targeted by the various gangs looking for some way to get back at TK by going through you."

"They wouldn't…" Sora begins but DJ just sighs. "They would. Thor's made a pile of enemies during his time on the streets. He's pretty high up the social ladder here abouts." DJ explains.

"I don't suppose you'd mind if we…" She trails off but DJ smiles in a sad sort of way. "Visit him? I am done; I guess it wouldn't hurt… Although I wouldn't think that a peace offering would be turned away, not with our new addition to our apartment."

"New addition?" Matt asks and she guesses that it's too much to wonder why TK would still be single… "Well, if I were to believe Zen and the Digimon, it seems that Patamon is TK's partner Digimon, which is pretty strange considering what kind of attitude Thor possesses." DJ says and she's not the only one who's stunned to hear that.

"Just how new is this development?" Matt asks after recovering slightly from his shock. "Fairly recent actually, less then a week really, heck, the way Zen put it, TK thought the Digimon was some figment of his imagination when TK woke to find the little guy resting next to him." DJ muses with a slight smile of amusement.

"Are you part of TK's gang?" Tai asks and DJ shakes his head. "I'm not much into violence. So, if you excuse me, I'll go and cancel your order, met you by the door." DJ says and heads to the bar to do just that.

With nothing better to do, they leave the table and wait by the door for DJ to return. "I wonder if TK was chosen when we were?" She couldn't help but wonder as she recalls what the others had mention about how most of the first generation of Digidestine were chosen after getting scanned as Greymon and Parrotmon returned to the Digital World.

None of the other three seem willing to say anything as they waited for DJ to arrive.

-)o(-

He perks up as he smells something coming from the hallway. It wasn't long before keys jangle and the door knob turns before the door is pushed open. He almost fall out off the back of the couch at the sight of the four familiar faces.

"What are you doing here?" He hears his partner ask in a very hard and icy tone that has undertones of controlled fury. It seems that TK has paused the game to glance at the door.

"I figured that this place was a better meeting spot then an accidental encounter then at the Drunken Dog for a family reunion." DJ states in a calm manner as the slightly older teen ushers the group of Digidestine into the apartment.

Oddly enough, his hunger seems to have vanished at this turn of events. He could only imagine what's going through his partner's mind and as he turns to look at TK, he freezes as he notices that TK has a hand at the back of his neck…

It didn't take long before he realizes that it wasn't Matt who TK's addressing either…

"Oh! Oh, this isn't good is it?" He says as looks between the Destine of Light and Hope.

'_Of course! That's what aggravated TK's Dark Spore! That's what's causing the balance in TK to be thrown out of whack!'_ He thinks.

"Oh? Oh! Nice to see you again angel-face! So, who's your friends?" Zen says, which pretty much confirms his suspicions.

"TK? TK!" He cries as he leaps towards his partner, he's not sure if he can be of any help but he wasn't just going to sit there and watch as TK suffers from the sudden conflict that's now raging within him.

He hisses as he suddenly develops a headache within seconds of touching his human partner. "TK? Patamon?" He hears Zen ask in alarm but his vision is already swimming and old memories of what happened years ago were coming much more strongly to the forefront of his mind.

'_Millenniummon… Why can't you be happy to just have Ryo? Why haunt TK?'_ He wonders as he finds himself staring into a pair of familiar eyes and he swears he can hear the Dark God's moronic laughter too.


End file.
